Eastern

Charleston, S.C.-based CresCom Bank has completed its acquisition of 13 First Community Bank branches in Columbus, Bladen and Brunswick counties and in the Myrtle Beach area in South Carolina. Virginia-based First Community Bank acquired Whiteville-based Waccamaw Bank's 16 branches in 2012 in an FDIC-aided transaction and closed three of its original branches.

Ten Wilmington-area apartment communities comprising 2,679 units have sold for a total of more than $240 million in the past two months, setting what may be an all-time record in transaction volume for the Port City. Nine of the transactions were part of investment-company portfolio sales.

Tom Adams, president and CEO of Ocean Isle Beach-based Adams Building and Consulting, is the new chairman of the N.C. State Ports Authority board of directors. Adams was appointed to the board in January by former House Speaker Thom Tillis. He succeeds Michael Lee, who was elected to the N.C. Senate in November.

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service finance committee approved plans for an entertainment complex that includes a 42,000-square-foot movie theater and 40,000 square feet of dining space at Fort Bragg. The $21 million to $23 million center is scheduled to open in early 2017.

A Kentucky company is close to making a deal to purchase Carolina Southern Railroad in Columbus County, which has pledged $1.8 million in economic-development incentives to the company. Commissioners in Horry County, S.C. also pledged $1.8 million for R.J. Corman Railroad Group to restore the idled rail lines.

Cumberland County commissioners will hold a public hearing in January on whether to offer incentives for Sanderson Farms to open a $113 million chicken plant that would create about 1,000 jobs. The board informally voted against offering incentives prior to November's election, but two new commissioners have since joined the board.

Federal regulators approved a $1.2 billion deal that will allow Duke Energy Progress to buy back four power plants that supply electricity to 32 towns in central and eastern N.C. The towns took on $3.6 billion in debt to buy minority stakes in the power plants in 1982, and their customers have paid an average of $240 to $600 more a year for electricity than Duke Progress customers (Statewide, September).

Onslow Memorial Hospital has entered into exclusive negotiations with Greenville-based Vidant Health and New Bern-based CarolinaEast Health System to discuss forming a partnership that will allow patients access to more providers and services.

Wilmington-based Envision Mortgage will merge with Raleigh-based North State Bank Mortgage. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close Dec. 31, were not disclosed. North State Bank has seven offices in New Hanover and Wake counties.

The city of Wilmington held a public workshop to help prioritize projects proposed as part of its Waterfront Improvement Plan. Potential projects include an urban park, reconstruction of a section of the city's river walk and public art.

New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet believes a temporary quarter-cent sales-tax increase would boost economic-development efforts in the Wilmington area by creating a sustainable fund for recruiting new business.

N.C. State's controversial plan to sell its 79,000-acre research forest has fallen through because the buyers were unable to secure financing for the $131 million deal. Chancellor Randy Woodson said the university will likely try to find another buyer for Hofmann Forest, which is in Onslow and Jones counties.

Moen will break ground on a new 203,000-square-foot component warehouse at Craven County Industrial Park in the first quarter of 2015. County commissioners unanimously approved $650,000 in incentives for the project, which is expected to be operational by fall 2015. The Ohio-based faucet-maker employs 700 at a local manufacturing plant.

A spokeswoman for Sykes Enterprises says the consolidation of two Fayetteville call centers will not result in layoffs. In a letter to the state Department of Commerce, the company had said the consolidation could lead to 226 layoffs, but all employees at the location that is scheduled to close by Dec. 11 were offered jobs at the company's new office.

Despite a pending legal challenge, the city of Wilmington completed the sale of a .76-acre riverfront property to Harmony Hospitality, which plans to build a $33.6 million Embassy Suites hotel there. The site is adjacent to the Wilmington Convention Center, which opened in 2010. A rival hotel group had challenged the sale, contending the city was offering to sell the land to Harmony below market value.

The 550-mile proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would provide more than $25 million annually in local property taxes –including $6 million in North Carolina – according to estimates from Dominion Resources. Announced in September, the pipeline would bring natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins to North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

The developer of a 313-acre development on the Cape Fear River plans to use low-impact principles to preserve the local environment. River Bluffs could contain up to 740 homes at buildout; most of the homes in the development's first phase will be priced at $400,000 and up.

A weekend storm worsened erosion at the north end of Topsail Island, where the town's building inspector recommended shutting off power to 22 vacation rentals and other structures where conditions could create a fire hazard. Related: "Land's End," November

Cheri Beasley, an associate justice, was confirmed the winner in the statewide N.C. Supreme Court race after a recount was completed Monday. The final tally showed Beasley received 5,410 more votes than opponent Mike Robinson, a Winston-Salem lawyer, out of more than 2.4 million votes cast. Beasley was appointed to the seat in 2012.